Hard Work is Hard (And Other Obvious Insights)
In no obvious order:
Hard Work is Hard.
Yes, systems can be made. Yes, you can leverage other people and software to be more efficient. But ultimately, there will be a part of any undertaking that’s hard work … and it will be hard — no matter how many listicles you read and videos you watch about productivity and efficiency.
Usually, the bigger chunk of any project will be hard work (especially creative ones). The only way past it is to go through it; not around, not under, not over.
A small piece of advice:
Any hard work you pass off to your future self will be passed off to yet another future self, and so on, and so on, until you realize that there is no future self.
Do the thing now, dude.
Hard Work is Ugly.
Not to be confused with the end result, which, when done right, will be beautiful. The making part is what’s messy. It won’t fit into a cute timelapse for your Instagram reel.
Ugly work is the work that seems insignificant: Organizing files, renaming folders, waiting on your proxy videos to render. It’s looking up four tutorials to find a very simple shortcut on your editing software that you ought to know by now. It’s the shoulder-squeezing tension of drinking coffee past the point of effectiveness. It’s the feelings of irritation, frustration, and discomfort that are ugly — the equivalent of having a bad hair day but in your mind.
And it hardly looks like the flow state.
I hate that we’ve given it a name and made it something to attain. I liked it better as a nameless byproduct of adventure.
“3 Steps to Get into Flow” my ass: I smell a marketing tactic.
Talk is Cheap.
That includes “talking” on paper. I write this for myself, which is why I feel exempt from the hypocrisy (at least for this piece).
“Talk” is distinct from writing in this way:
The former is conjecture, the latter is experiential (and intrinsically enjoyable).
If you notice yourself “talking” rather than writing, I recommend that you stop using self-help & growth-hacking as your genres of expression (again, I’m exempting myself on this one).
Time is Finite.
I’ve never spent time learning about a time-saving technique that wasn’t really a stalling tactic in disguise.
Bad habits Feel Good.
No one smokes a pack of cigarettes and hates every minute of it (only the few minutes after).
Whenever I’m determined to alter/remove a bad habit I stupidly ignore the fact that I developed the “bad” habit because it is pleasurable.
Don’t lie to yourself about that fact;
there’s no moral high ground to stand on.
Instead, go in with the full understanding that, for a time, every ounce of your non-executive functioning brain will want to indulge in the vice. (Re-read the section titled “Hard work is Hard”).
If a doc prescribes you a medicine, she’ll also tell you the expected side effects. This is so you won’t stop taking it at the first drop of discomfort.
I.e., Don’t be shocked by the side effects, stay on the medicine.
Someone’s Selling Something.
Maybe not you, but your platform (or your platform’s platform).
Better to be the one with something to sell that the poor, ignorant fool.
(Just remember to sell something of value, like a book).
